Bedouin Soundclash: 'We're Doing Everything We Can Before The Industry Collapses'

In the last two years, Bedouin Soundclash started their own record label, left long time label SideOneDummy, lost and gained a drummer, went on a hiatus, released their own album and celebrated their one decade anniversary. The Canadian rock reggae trio have come out on the other side refreshed as a band and excited for what may come next.

Singer and guitarist Jay Malinowski talks with the Weekly about the challenges of running your own label, the most surreal moment of his career and the difference between Canadian hockey and American hockey.

OC Weekly: This year you officially hit the 10 year mark. What's that like?Jay Malinowski

: It actually feels pretty strange because it doesn't feel like 10 years. We feel a lot of gratitude that we've been able to keep doing this as long as we have. I don't know if we thought we'd be going this long. It comes down to still feeling inspired to play and that's the hardest thing to keep. We're shocked that we're still inspired to keep playing and we really want to keep writing songs and making albums. It is a marriage.

Just in the last two years, you guys have gone through a lot of changes. How do you think Bedouin Soundclash has evolved from these changes?We started our own label, we had a lineup change, and we feel really good. At this point now, we really do feel like were starting a new chapter. We're obviously a bit older and we have a new perspective on why we wanna do this. We feel like we can go to places we weren't able to go before.

Why did you guys leave SideOneDummy Records?It was really about having a creative input. We got most of our records back at a certain point and there was a lot of transition taking place. As a band we feel that whenever were on a label...it was always a problem from the understanding of how we wanted to put our music out. Having our own label gave us the opportunity to do it ourselves.

What's the best part about running your own label?When we started we realized that there are a lot of things that go into it that we didn't think of. It's a sense of accomplishment of helping someone else's career that we really love. Showcasing artists that may not have the ability to get on a label that we think are relevant.

What would you say are some of the challenges?You always have to keep in mind-and I remember being on the other side of it- that when you're putting someone else's record out, they put so much time into that and it's really their whole lives putting into the records and you have to respect that. And there's always something new to do with [the label]. It's not like a 9-5 job, so staying on top of everything. And staying on top of your band.

You released your latest album, Light the Horizon, on your own label. How did that affect the band and the album?We didn't have to ask anyone what to do anymore. So it was really great this time because we were involved in the decision making from start to finish. It was more work, but mainly more work for our manager. It was great to be apart of it from beginning to end.

What was one of the most surreal moments of your career?Last year when I ran with the Olympic torch in the Olympics in Vancouver. I remember thinking of all the things I thought I would do as a musician, this was not one of them. I thought, "this is pretty cool to be able to do this because of some songs I wrote."

What's next for you guys?Everyone wants to do some projects on their own but I hope to get into the studio again by the end of the year. We're really inspired right now and it's something we want to keep pushing toward and getting in as much music as we can right now. We're going to play a lot of festivals this summer. I think we'll go back to Europe again for a while. We're trying to do everything we can before the entire industry collapses.

One last question--what's your favorite hockey team?Oh, I gotta say the Vancouver Canuks. I'm from Vancouver, so it's a pretty good time for us. We played a show in Anaheim, and the Ducks had just won the Stanley Cup and [at a show] I did a shout out, "Hey congratulations to you guys, and Ryan Getzlaf," and I think one person in the audience knew that that had something to do with hockey. In Vancouver, it's something that people are going to kill themselves if they don't win. I mean jumping out of buildings.